I have read the touching words of concern left by my dear blogging friends. I really should have been more considerate in posting updates.sorry for any worry I have caused.
Over all I am doing OK. Have been hospitalized a a few times but it was nothing the Good Lord, doctors and nurses were not able to deal with. I am such a lucky man, blessed in so very many ways. I really have come to realize how important it is to be able to recognize and truly appreciate the blessing we all have in our lives. We all have then but often but so often let our busy lives get so in the way, we don’t see those blessing, appreciate them and realize how lucky we are.if you get right down to it the simple act of being able to breath freely is a blessing.
It took a little time for me to realize at some subconscious level I was beginning to see myself as a dying man. I needed to change that. I am NOT a dying man. I am a living man, dealing with some medical issues.
I needed a break to get my head straightened out. That is still a work in progress.
Again sorry for any worry I have caused. Will do my best to keep all my dear friends better informed.
A big thank you to dear friend Samantha for giving me the pike I needed to get back up and moving, even returning here.

On another forum I have had the opportunity to meet a lady that is feeling great loss, great pain with the very resent loss of her husband.
It has got me thinking of how intense the pain, the sense of loss can be. Your world as you know it is completely turned upside down, nothing is the same. The fact of the matter is it never will be the same. A person that played a huge part in your life is gone, how could it be the same.
As you are going through the grieving process all you can think of is the pain and loss.
It is hard to imagine it at the time but while not the same life will become good again.
Dealing with a loss and how we deal with it is a very personal, private matter. There just is no one correct way to do it.
As you try to comfort someone going through it all, that I know of anyway, there are just no mere words that can be said that will provide any meaningful comfort.
So many at anyone time are going through this. I know it can be a very lonely experience.
As I don’t have specific words of comfort, I am sharing a previous post that at the time of my mothers passing did help me a lot. Did it take away the pain, No. But it did help. Here it is from way back in the early days of the blog:

With my memory these days I am never sure if I read this somewhere or if this is my own thought. I just know this helped me tremendously when my mother passed. I loved my mother dearly and still do and always will. I hope I can find the right words to really express what I am trying to say.

Use your imagination and try to picture this scenario. By some chance your loved one get a chance to go on a fantastic voyage, say a year long cruise around the world. You know your loved one would have a fantastic time, the time of their lives. Lets further suppose, the trip has already been booked and nothing short of a miracle will stop them form going. How would you react?

Would you be there, being lovingly supportive in their preparations for the voyage. Hoping and praying only for their happiness and well being. It is a given that you will miss them. You are comforted knowing you will see them again and out of love, make the choise to put their well being ahead of our own. I mean it would be so unfair to hope or think they should miss out on such an opportunity just because we will miss them. We joyously help in their preparations spending quality, happy time before they leave. Tearful good byes are said hugs are exchanged and off they go.

Or, Even though you know the trip is booked and that they will have a wonderful time, do you react differently. Even selfishly, out of our own fear of missing them and being lonely, we feel miserable. We cry and maybe even try to talk them into canceling the trip, “you can’t go I will miss you to much”.

Through our own selfishness we want to deny them the trip the joy, the happiness that would come with it. They are leaving anyway, but we have turned what could have been a joyous farewell into a time of personal sorrow for ourselves.

I used these thoughts on the passing of my dearly loved mother. I wished her joy and happiness until we meet again. Did that remove all the sadness no, but it definately helped. With her passing my mother went on a wonderful voyage and I do miss her but I know I will be seeing her again

Well back at it. Realizing I need to give myself more of a push to keep life going. It seems somehow my days all blur together and just fly past. It seem human issues, health issues, lack of energy caused by both and a bit of plain old laziness has been keeping me down.
I have to push harder, well here I am. This is me pushing.
There seems so much I have to catch up on, especially responding to the beautiful heart felt comments.
My heart goes out to our dear blogging friend Mel with all the struggles faced by her and family. Been away for so long, being memory guy, can’t remember how to do the link thing. Will work on it.
Next few days will give update on health issues. Things pretty much following expected path. Bigger threat of a stroke scares the crap out of me. But will get into that.
Am planning a series of posts. A while back I was asked to write about what I have learned from this blogging experience. Simple answer is a lot. Far more than I expected or even dreamed of, such a wonderful experience.
Needing that push I am going to commit to at least weekly posts. As I get rolling who knows maybe more often.
I want to thank all my blogging friends. You have been wonderful your living support, your prayers have kept me going. Thank you

I know many still check for my posts but don’t always read the comments left by others. With this in mind I have copied a comment and my reply:

Sherilyn Prost says:
January 20, 2016 at 10:32 am (Edit)
I am dying and I am blessed to have the opportunity to know the peace and serenity of God’s love! I lay here one day flowing into the other and the pain is there but seems distant… I’m not on medication for it..but know from past experience that what I’m feeling is far better than any medication could help.

I have experience a transition from my life as reviewing everything yet it’s almost as if it is a picture glance or highlight reel of someone else.. I do remember how stressful some of them were and the feeling they would never end but they appear instantaneous and distant. What once seemed so monumental is truly irrelevant.. and I am OK almost blissful, as though I am untethered and gliding in a surreal world…I really have to focus to come down and go eat or bathe..I praise God for another moment of peace and the love with my doggie. Only when I awaken from my own screaming do I really know that my physical body is in pain. Have any of you transition into or out of this state??

Hi Sherilyn, welcome to my blog. I thank you for sharing your so touching and heart felt story. It is comforting to know God is with you as you make this part of our physical earthly journey.it is wonderful that you have reached and can maintain that blissful state. I am so very sorry to hear of the pain you are experiencing. For me pain is a game changer. I so admire your attitude and courage through all of this.
I can only speak from my own experience. I seem to at times attain that state of bliss but lacking your strength and courage I often loose it when the heavier pain comes on. I seem to be dragged mentally back into the reality of my body at the time. That pain is a game changer for me.
I too am having flashbacks, memories of times and events in the past just seem to pop into my head. Some like you of how I over reacted making mountains out of mole hills. I caused myself so much needless stress. I have many “forgotten” memories coming from deep inside. Like you I see the world and life differently. Now I see there were times I see differently now. When I now rehash certain times it is more with feeling of empathy for the feelings of others my actions affected.
I find myself seeking outside distractions in dealing with these times to temporarily refocus, distract my thinking.
I call these “down” times my episodes. Once I get past them I can more easily refocus. I am not sure if I reach the blissful state you speak of, more a state of peace and contentment.
I thank you for sharing and do hope you will continue to share with us going forward.
Bill

I recently read something that got me thinking. The writer was basically say how messed up the world is today. Millions of refugees, even more millions of starving people, the list of problems was almost endless. They felt the problems were so big there was just nothing that could be done other throw our hands up in despair and not even try to do anything.
Well let’s face it the problems of the world are huge and far beyond what any one person could possibly solve but can we not each as individuals do our own little bit. Make at least some contribution by helping the life of even one other person. In doing that little bit we are in fact making the world a little better. Bringing a little light into the life of another helps the world shine just a little brighter.
I know, I have been on the receiving end of such kindness and know how it can brighten a life.
Doing this thinking brought to mind on of my favourite stories. I have put it up before. Found it back in May/08. My post from back then:

A woman was walking along a beach when she saw a man scooping up starfish off the sand and tossing them into the waves. Curious, she asked him what he was doing. He replied “When the tide goes out it leaves these starfish stranded on the beach. They will dry up and die before the tide comes back in, so I am throwing them back into the sea where they can live.”

The woman laughed, “But this beach is miles long and there are hundreds of stranded starfish, most will die before you reach them – do you really think throwing back a few starfish is going to make a difference?”

The man picked up a starfish and looked at it and threw it into the waves. “It makes a difference to this one” he said.

In the story here we have a man seemingly taking on a hopeless or maybe even seemingly a useless task. There are miles of beach all of which he alone can’t possibly cover to save all of the starfish. But, does he give it up as a useless or hopeless task, NO. He realizes you Maybe can’t mean the world to everyone, but you can be the world to someone. He was doing his part, to help the world and meant the world to those starfish he did save.

I meant it when I said he was doing his part to help the world, he realize that every little bit counts, every little bit helps. He was showing his true character and the size of his heart by helping a living thing in trouble. I can only imagine that a man with a heart this big would be also helping other people in anyway he could with that same determined effort. Realizing every little bit helps, no extra effort is to small and no one would be seen as being not worth his help. He would just do what he could and I am sure felt better in his heart for knowing he did what he could.

Can you imagine what the world would be like if we all did that, had that attitude. If we all just did what we could instead of just throwing up our hands in despair, thinking this task, this problem, whatever is just to big, so big that nothing I could ever do would make a difference. That thinking is just so wrong as truly every little bit helps. Love is what make this world go around. It is the one thing there really can never be to much of. It truly is a case of the more the better. You have it in your heart, an inexhaustible supply of love. By showing it, sharing it through a simple act of kindness to another can be your way of doing your bit to make the world a better place.

Sharing this love can and will have its own rewards as you will feel the very love in your heart that you are giving away is growing, more than you can imagine.

Received a Christmas card from one of Vi’s cousins. Besides the normal greetings it has the following message.
It is so powerful. I remembered having posted sometime back but think is is worth putting up again. Especially at this time of year. Help us appreciate family time and all the blessings we have in our lives.

3900 Saturdays

The older I get, the more I enjoy Saturday mornings. Perhaps it’s the quiet solitude that comes with being the first to rise, or maybe it’s the unbounded joy of not having to be at work. Either way, the first few hours of a Saturday morning are most enjoyable. A few weeks ago, I was shuffling toward the garage with a steaming cup of coffee in one
hand and the morning paper in the other. What began as a typical Saturday morning turned into one of those lessons that life seems to hand you from time to time. Let me tell you about it:
I turned the dial up into the phone portion of the band on my ham radio in order to listen to a Saturday morning swap net. Along the way,
I came across an older sounding chap, with a tremendous signal and a golden voice. You know the kind; he sounded like he should be in the broadcasting business. He was telling whomever he was talking with something about “a thousand marbles.” I was intrigued and stopped to listen to what he had to say.

“Well, Tom, it sure sounds like you’re busy with your job. I’m sure they pay you well but it’s a shame you have to be away from home and your family so much. Hard to believe a young fellow should have to work sixty or seventy hours a week to make ends meet. It’s too bad you missed your daughter’s “dance recital” he continued. “Let me tell you something that has helped me keep my own priorities.” And that’s when he began to explain his theory of a “thousand marbles.”

“You see, I sat down one day and did a little arithmetic. The average person lives about seventy-five years. I know, some live more and some live less, but on average, folks live about seventy-five years. “Now then, I multiplied 75 times 52 and I came up with 3900, which is the number of Saturdays that the average person has in their entire
lifetime. Now, stick with me, Tom, I’m getting to the important part.
It took me until I was fifty-five years old to think about all this in any detail”, he went on, “and by that time I had lived through over twenty-eight hundred Saturdays.” “I got to thinking that if I lived to be seventy-five, I only had about a thousand of them left to enjoy. So I went to a toy store and bought every single marble they had. I ended up having to visit three toy stores to round up 1000 marbles I took them home and put them inside a large, clear plastic container right here in the shack next to my gear.”

“Every Saturday since then, I have taken one marble out and thrown it away. I found that by watching the marbles diminish, I focused more
on the really important things in life. There’s nothing like watching your time here on this earth run out to help get your priorities straight.”

“Now let me tell you one last thing before I sign off with you and take my lovely wife out for breakfast. This morning, I took the very last
marble out of the container. I figure that if I make it until next Saturday then I have been given a little extra time.. And the one thing we can all use is a little more time.”

“It was nice to meet you Tom, I hope you spend more time with your family, and I hope to meet you again here on the band This is a 75 Year
old Man, K9NZQ, clear and going QRT, good morning!”

You could have heard a pin drop on the band when this fellow signed off. I guess he gave us all a lot to think about. I had planned to work on the antenna that morning, and then I was going to meet up with a few hams to work on the next club newsletter.

Instead, I went upstairs and woke my wife up with a kiss. “C’mon honey, I’m taking you and the kids to breakfast.” “What brought this on?” she asked with a smile “Oh, nothing special, it’s just been a long time since we spent a Saturday together with the kids. And hey, can we stop at a toy store while we’re out? I need to buy some marbles.

Who am I?

I am a 61 year old male. At the age of 52 I was told by my doctor I am dying. For the past 4 years, I have done my best to deal with both congestive heart failure and a brain tumor, while knowing my days are indeed numbered. It is my hope that by sharing my experiences, I can encourage others faced with the same situation. I hope to also help the families of those individuals to have an understanding of the process and deal with the fear or dread of being around the dying.
I am not a doctor, not a man of the clergy, I am not a therapist. I am just me, Bill Howdle, I am merely sharing my thoughts and ideas. I write of death and dying, understand this is my personal prospective, based on what I am encountering.